Growing audience

PARIS - Renault is looking for a way to nearly double the production of its Logan low-cost family car to meet unexpectedly brisk customer demand in greater Europe, a Renault executive said.

The only plant building Logans for western, central and eastern Europe is in Pitesti, Romania, where Renault's Dacia subsidiary makes about 35 Logans an hour.

"We are envisaging stepping up production of the Logan to 60 cars an hour, or approximately 250,000 a year," the executive told Automotive News Europe.

But the big question is: Which plant will get the added production?

"It could be at Bursa (Turkey), or Novo Mesto (Slovenia)," the executive said. Without eliminating Romania from consideration, he said, "the problem is that raising capacity in Pitesti requires a very heavy investment."

He did not elaborate, but Pitesti's paint workshop is said to pose a potential bottleneck.